Digital cameras may be affected by the operating environment in which the digital camera is located when capturing an image. For example, the colours in an image may vary depending on a light source that is exposed to the camera. An image captured in sunlight may have different colouring than an image captured near incandescent or fluorescent lighting. For example, an image may have a bluish cast if it is captured under fluorescent lighting. White balancing is the process of removing incorrect colouring in an image so that objects that appear white in person are white in the image. White balancing may be used to compensate for the effect of a light source on an image.
Digital cameras may also be affected by flicker. Flicker is caused due to the presence of light sources that are powered by alternating current (AC) mains. Such light sources may emit light that varies in brightness based on the mains frequency of the AC mains. Such variations are not detected by the human eye, but may be detected by an image sensor of a digital camera. Such variations may produce a series of alternating dark and light bands in a captured image.
Thus, the environment in which a digital camera operates may affect images produced by that digital camera. In particular, the lighting conditions may affect the resulting image and may, in at least some cases, cause images to be captured that have undesirable effects.
Like reference numerals are used in the drawings to denote like elements and features.